Motorola Droid RAZR MAXX HD
Phone Scoop Review
Oct 19, 2012 by Eric M. Zeman
Motorola is gunning to take down the competition with the RAZRs redux. Phone Scoop tackles everything you wanted to know about the Droid RAZR HD and Droid RAZR MAXX HD in this full review. read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
Really Can't Beat It
I have had this phone for about 3 months and I really don't have any complaints; I had an iPhone 4 prior. First things first, the battery is definitely one of the reasons to get this phone. I can unplug my phone at 6:30am when I leave for work and be on it the entire time for my 90 min commute, be on it throughout the day with fluctuating WiFi and signal as my office building is inconsistent in service, be on it my 90 min commute home and still have anywhere from 50%-60% battery when I get home around 5:30pm. I've even come home sometimes with almost 70% battery left if I used it less throughout the day. I do have Google Now running too which can be a battery drain.
The reception will often read 4G and occasionally drop to 3G but that is pretty rare as I live in the NYC area. I will often see 1 or 2 bars of 4G but bars mean nothing on this phone as my data speed and call quality do not suffer.
The camera is definitely not good. The autofocus will show it's good for the shot and then its dark.
The speaker on the back of the phone is not in a good spot. I often have to put it face down on the couch or bed as the sound is really low and muffled otherwise.
I've had the occasional stutter or spinning circle when I go to open my menu but that is just the nature of Android OS if you ask me. The GPS is excellent for the Google Navigation.
The text messaging irks me on the phone. It doesn't like Group Messaging all that much and sometimes I get a message in a group and other times they come as individual messages. The notification icon for the texts will get stuck on a number sometimes even though all my messages are read. For time being, I've been using Verizon Messages as my texting app as it allows Group Messaging without any problems.
The few things I've mentioned are pretty small considering all things and I would recommend this phone for someone who wants excellent battery life as well as an overall excellent screen with what would be considered stock Android.
Great phone, camera not so much
I purchased this phone in January 2013 after going back and forth between it and the Samsung Galaxy S3.
PROs: Battery life is great. With push email, Instagram, FB, Twitter, text messages, and Pandora running all day my battery is at about 50% by 1900.
Screen resolution and size is very nice.
Smart Actions is an awesome app. I can set my phone to detect my Wifi as soon as I get home and also set the ringer to loud. If I am in the car, it's set to bluetooth sync with my car stereo and GPS/Navigation comes on. You
Speaker volume is loud and crisp.
Calls sound great.
CONs: Camera takes awful pics. The pics come out blurry and take too long to "develop" from the time you push the button to when the pic is actually taken.
Speaker is on the back of the phone. As a result if the phone is face up the speaker is covered and all sounds are muffled.
SD card issue. My SD card was corrupted and I had to purchase a new one. Upon initial use everything was working fine and then about 2 weeks later my card wouldn't be recognized by the phone. IDK if the card konked out or if the phone caused it...
Weird glitch where the caller on the other line cant hear me once the screen locks. Doesn't happen all the time but fairly frequently.
I think most of the issues I have with this phone are software related. I don't know if its because I am rooted or due to the Jelly Bean software. For some reason my contacts app constantly force close. If I use the Favorites or People app the moment I select a name, the app force closes. Also the contact pics are small and blurry. No matter how may times I try to reset the pics they end up being blurry. Its my understanding the Google server resizes the pics automatically. Why have a large screen if u can only utilize a small portion for a caller id screen?
But overall its a great phone. With the proper software upgrades it has the potential to be even better.
Very good phone
Coming off a Galaxy S III, which is a good phone...
Pros:
This phone has excellent battery life.
Interface is really nice.
Supports group texting
Charges fast
Speech to text works very well
Phone is responsive
Non replaceable battery makes phone feel really solid.
It is a "real" international phone (the Samsung will not receive data or MMS overseas with a non-verizon SIM.)
Cons:
Screen is not as bright as the Galaxy
Phone does not always enable inks in texts and emails. And it is sometimes impossible to select them and copy them. This can be an issue when you have a phone number in an email for example. The Samsung does this linking well.
Screen is large but not as large as the Samsung. Additionally some screen real estate is used for menu functions, unlike the Samsung which has the menu function in the bezel. I realize that the Razr is more in keeping with the android standard, but the screen deficit when compared to the larger Galaxy S III is magnified by the loss of screen real estate used by the menus.
I still recommend this phone with the CONs. It's fast, solid, the screen is still fairly large, and it actually delivers the international capability that Verizon promised. (The Samsung S III is APN locked!). This phone delivers on battery life, a feature I have complained since day one in smart phones. They keep making them thinner and thinner, but the battery life stinks. At last a phone that actually has usable battery life! And it's still not very thick at all either.
If they fix the linking phone numbers and web pages issues this will be a 4.9 phone.
Excellent Phone
I have used this phone for about 2 months now. In the past, I have used 2 IPhones, multiple android devices, Blackberries, etc. I see the reviews on this phone and am amazed they are so low. The battery life is phenomenal and everything is so smooth with the day to day operation.
The only problem I have seen is the phone freezing from time to time. I solved this by removing the SD card, and has not happened since.
Best Phone Ever
I have owned an iPhone 3GS and a 4S. Both good phones. I decided I did not want to be a prisoner in a walled garden any longer and purchased the Moto Razr Maxx. It was a good phone, a very good phone, but I wanted a phone for the future, one with an NFC chip and I also wanted to have a phone with a superior battery. The Moto Razr Maxx HD fit the bill. I have owned this phone for almost 2 months now. Is any phone perfect, NO. But this one is awful close.
Pros-
Superior battery
Circles
Beautiful screen
Large display
NFC
Gorilla Glass
Carbon fiber backing
Cons-
None found that I can think of. I do not own phones very long and I can honestly say, I have never been this happy with ANY phone I have owned and there have been many. I plan on having this phone for at least 2 years or until something even more spectacular comes out but I will not switch out for at least 2 years(not because of any contract either). I am just really, really happy with this phone. End of story, period.
Fantastic,Excellent and Fast
I have a droid_maxxhd my wife & son have one,we love this phone,don't no where these comments are coming from about lag time and gmail icons with no letters and who cares about the small stuff. None of us have had any problems so far.
The screen display is fantastic it's more solid than my last motorola_droid bionic.
I dropped it twice the first day on a hard tile floor and was scared to look at it but each time not even a scratch or anything because the way the corners are made,some kind of super mateial like the screen.I also put in a 64gb micro chip for lots & lots of music and video,plus it came with 32gb which makes it almost 100 gigs.
The phone is the thinest I have ever owned,also there are no built in icons on the bottom which I think clutters the screen up.If I wanted icons I would have bought an iphone.My advice is to walk down to verizion and check them out first to be sure.
Squeeze the screen hard and see if it responds after that, in other words play rough.
I no you can't bang it on the floor because verizions got them tied down and don't trust anyone,you will not be dissapointed with this phone I promise.
First Impressions
This phone is replacing a Droid X ... it got to the point where it would just turn itself off. The phone was treated very well so it must be a Motorola feature.
First, I hate the user interface on the HD. Google / Motorola must have hired some programmers from MS. The number of steps to perform a task has now seemingly doubled. Also, what happened to using WORDS instead of stupid vague icons to indicate a button or task. I strongly miss the Buttons at the bottom of the phone. Much easier and faster navigation with the buttons IMO.
Having never used a "smart" phone before, the Droid X was fairly intuitive - this phone is NOT. Another step backwards is the new gmail interface. On the Droid X I could press and hold an email to bring up WRITTEN command choices, such as Delete or to mark as spam, etc. The "new and improved" interface brings up squat when I press and hold an email. I did find the now usual list of stupid icons at the bottom which mean zero to me. The only option is to start selecting icons to see what they do as they are VERY tiny and vague in their appearance. Did I mention that I HATE the interface? IMO, this user interface is a HUGE step backwards in functionality.
On to other peeves: Instead of having an Alarms icon you now have to open the clock to set alarms. The Gauge battery widget no longer works. The phone icon on the X interface allowed you to switch from the dialer to your contacts list on the same screen. The "new and better" interface requires you to dump the screen and open up a separate contacts screen ... MORE steps. Are you listening Motorola? Maybe it's me but I'm also find the touchscreen interface to be more problematic; having to touch a icon more than once to get it to operate. NO CAMERA BUTTON. I knew this when I bought the phone but didn't realize how much I would miss it.
The only reason I'm giving it 3 stars is 4G and the hi-res screen.
I'm going to give it a week before I decide on whether to keep it or send it back.
